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In A World Without Don, Trailers Won't Be The Same

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The Associated Press

Published: September 3, 2008

Don LaFontaine, the man who popularized the catch phrase "In a world where ..." and lent his voice to thousands of movie trailers, has died. He was 68.

LaFontaine died Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from complications in the treatment of an ongoing illness, said Vanessa Gilbert, his agent.

LaFontaine made more than 5,000 trailers in his 33-year career working for the top studios and television networks.

In an interview last year, LaFontaine explained the strategy behind the phrase.

"We have to very rapidly establish the world we are transporting them to," he said of his viewers. "That's very easily done by saying, 'In a world where ... violence rules.' 'In a world where ... men are slaves and women are the conquerors.' You very rapidly set the scene."

LaFontaine is survived by his wife, the singer and actress Nita Whitaker, and three daughters.

'Bandit' Singer, Actor Jerry Reed Dies At 71

Jerry Reed, a singer who became a good ol' boy actor in car chase movies such as "Smokey and the Bandit," died Monday of complications from emphysema at 71.

As a singer in the 1970s and early 1980s, Reed had a string of hits that included "Amos Moses," "When You're Hot, You're Hot," "East Bound and Down," "She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)" and "The Bird."

Today's Birthdays

Cartoonist Mort Walker is 85. Actress Eileen Brennan is 76. Actor Charlie Sheen is 43. Actor Nick Wechsler is 30.

Source: The Associated Press

CORRECTIONS

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